Avatar Goes To Hogwarts
by Psycho Demon-Witch
Summary: Harry PotterAvatar crossover. Aang and his friends and enemies land in Hogwarts. What will happen whilst they are there?
1. Chapter 1

Psycho Demon-Witch: I am soooo sorry I deleted this. But there were some new characters introduced in the second series that were just too cool to miss out and I just had to include them. Well… thanks to the people who reviewed this fic before it was deleted!

Chapter One

They were all bored. They had been trying to avoid this new Fire Nation threat all day. Thing is, these girls were much better prepared than Zuko has been, and the leader, Azula, seemed to be much more powerful. Appa was getting tired too. They would have to find a place to hide for the night.

Soon, Katara spotted a cave, and told Aang to land there. An Earth Kingdom bird was outside the cave. "Hey Toph, can you feel how many people there are in that cave?" Aang asked. Toph frowned. She couldn't feel any vibrations in that tunnel. She couldn't even tell what the cave would have looked like could she have seen.

"I can't feel anything" Toph said. "It's like there's a barrier around this cave. I can feel the bird, and then… nothing". The others looked surprised.

"Well, it's not like there are any fire benders in there. That's an Earth Kingdom bird" said Sokka.

"I suppose. Let's go" Aang said hesitantly. They had had some bad luck from unusual caves. "We can't leave Appa outside though. What if those girls spot him?"

"Bring him in then, Twinkle Toes" Toph said.

"Appa doesn't like caves. The last one we were in caused… a few problems" Katara explained.

"It's either he comes in the cave, or we are toast. There is plenty of room for him" Toph said, not leaving room for argument and stomped inside the cave.

"Come on, Appa. We need to go inside the cave, otherwise those girls will find us" Aang said, trying to coax Appa inside. It took a while, but he, Katara and Sokka managed to get Appa a good distance inside the cave.

"Hey Toph, where are you?" Katara called out.

"I'm over here, with a friend I met not so long back. Turns out there were fire benders in here" Toph shouted back.

"And you're friends with this guy?" Sokka said, absolutely astounded.

"Well, yeah. Not all fire benders are evil psychotics" Toph retorted.

"Most of them were. Zuko, Zhao and now those three girls" Sokka muttered under his breath. They turned the corner in the cave, where Toph's voice had come from. Instantly, Sokka withdrew his boomerang. He saw Toph sitting with Iroh, drinking tea, and not so far off, was Zuko. "Toph, are you crazy? Remember what we told you about this guy?" Sokka shouted at her.

"Yeah. It's his uncle I know. We got talking a while back" Toph said, not taking any notice of Sokka's discomfort.

"But still, Zuko was the one trying to capture Aang not so long back. He's dangerous" Sokka protested again. Toph turned to glare at Sokka by using the vibrations to sense where he was. Since she had come into the cave, she had been able to see everything. Sokka almost cringed. It was eerie being glared at by a blind girl. Katara stepped between them, ever being the peace keeper.

"Come on guys. We need to rest for the night, and we need a place to hide from those girls. I'm sure we can come to an agreement, right?" she said, turning to Iroh. Zuko's head jerked up when he heard 'those girls'.

"What girls?" he spoke for the first time.

"There are three of them. One of them can use lightening, one can disable our bending and the other has a habit of throwing sharp objects. Why?" Katara answered. Zuko's face immediately grew angry. He looked towards his uncle. Iroh also looked grave.

"You seriously think you lost them?" Zuko asked. "You aren't very bright. Azula and her friends are the best the Fire Nation has".

"You know them?"

"Yes. Azula is my sister" Zuko said.

"Then you're on their side, you're helping them" Sokka accused. Iroh tried calming them down.

"No. We are also on the run from them. We have been labelled as traitors to the Fire Nation. They are also after us" he explained.

"Why would you be seen as traitors? You've been working to capture Aang all this time, which is what the Fire Nation wants, right?" Sokka said.

"You remember the incident at the North Pole, right? Word got back to my brother, Ozai. He is not very forgiving, even though destroying the moon would have also destroyed the Fire Nation" Iroh said.

"Be that as it may, you are still a traitor, Uncle" came a female voice from near the entrance of the cave. They all turned around to see Azula, Ty Lee and Mai standing in front of them. Zuko stood quicker than the blink of an eye, ready for a fight. "You still want to try and beat me, Zuzu?" Azula mocked.

"How did you find us?" Sokka demanded.

"I saw your bison land in this area, and the big bird outside was a dead give away that my dear brother and uncle were here" Azula answered with a smug look on her face. She got into a fighting stance, her two friends following. Aang and the others also got ready to fight them. "The Avatar and two traitors in one day. Father will be most pleased. This time, father will kill you Zuzu" Azula said. And the fight began. Fire, earth air water and lightening being thrown in various directions. No one noticed the bright light the cave was emitting. Not until it seemed to absorb them at least. When they did notice, they stopped, and looked around them. They couldn't get out. The cave had sealed itself, and even Toph couldn't remove the boulder in their way. The light finally consumed them.

(hmm… should I end it here? Nah, not long enough for my liking)

When they woke up, they found themselves on the border of a forest. Not the usual kind of forest either. This one seemed to be emitting an evil vibe, and it made even Azula shiver. When Azula noticed that Aang and Zuko were still with them, she got into fighting stance again. As did Zuko, but Aang seemed to just stand there. "Hey, where are we?" he asked.

"I don't know. I have never seen this place before, and I have done much travelling in my time" Iroh said. Aang walked over to Azula and Zuko.

"Listen, we don't know where we are. I don't think this is even our world. It feels too different. Maybe we should call a truce until we can get back to our own world" he said. Azula and Zuko relaxed, contemplating his words. At least, until a lightening bolt headed for his direction. Iroh ran forward and let the bolt strike him, leading it out through his other arm.

"Will you listen Azula?" he said to her, raising his voice slightly. "We don't know where we are. What good will capturing us do you? You have nowhere to take us" he said, trying to reason with her.

"Your uncle is right, Azula. Capturing them now will just give us more trouble" Mai said, hoping the headstrong princess would listen. Azula lowered her arms.

"Fine. I will agree to a truce. But as soon as we know how to get back, don't expect me to let you go" she threatened.

"I don't, but we're all in the same situation, and we all want to go back. We have to work together if we want that to happen" Aang said peacefully.

"Aang? Are you losing your mind? This girl is crazier than Zuko is. How can we trust her?" Sokka asked.

"Fire benders honour" Zuko said suddenly.

"What's that?" Katara asked.

"To the Fire Nation, honour is very important. They will keep their word, no matter what… at least, most of the time they will" Aang explained. Azula sighed.

"Fine. I swear on my honour as a citizen of the Fire Nation I will not do anything to physically harm or capture any of you while we are in this world" she stated. Ty Lee and Mai also made the same vow, closely followed by Zuko. "What about you?" Azula asked Aang.

"He's not the one trying to kill anyone" Sokka spat at her. Azula glared. Sokka glared right back at her.

"She's right. She needs our words as well that we won't harm her and her friends" Aang said. And there were yet more promises of not killing anyone. "So… how to figure out where we are".

Psycho Demon-Witch: So what do you think of this new version of this fic? I hope it's better, I just had to include those characters! Please leave a review. I don't care if you flame either, I need something to laugh at.


	2. Chapter 2

Psycho Demon-Witch: Thank you for the reviews. They were much appreciated. This took a lot longer than I wanted to update, because of the internet connection. I am not pleased. Well, anyway, I would like it if you would start voting for which houses the Avatar and the others are going to be in. Please do not vote for them all to be in the same one, it would get rather boring. Obviously most of them will be in different years… I wonder how it actually turns out… anyway, on with the story.

Chapter Two

"Maybe there's someone who lives near here. This land seems to be well taken care of" Katara said. "What do you think Toph? Can you feel anything?" Toph stood still for a moment and concentrated.

"Yes, there's a hut not too far from here. There is someone living there. I'll lead you to it" she said, and took off in a direction leading a short way off from the eerie forest they had landed next to.

Sure enough, after just a few moments a large hut came into view. They all walked up to it. Katara stepped forward and knocked on the door. A large clutter was heard, as though the person inside had dropped something rather big. The door suddenly opened. "Who the bloody hell are you?" the man asked. The Avatar and the others looked up at the man in shock. Even men in the Earth Kingdom never got this big. He was about eight feet tall, with a long black, rather messy beard and long hair in the same condition. Aang came to his sense first.

"Umm… I'm Aang, and we kind of somehow landed here. We were wondering if there was anyone who could help us get back to our own world" he said with his traditional grin in place. The tall man looked baffled.

"You look harmless enough, but how do I know you aren't spies of You Know Who?" he asked. The kids in front of him looked confused.

"No, we don't know who. He was being serious. There was a bright light, then all of a sudden, we were here" Katara said. The man put a hand to his head.

"Alrigh', I know someone who migh' be able to help yeh. Names Hagrid, by the way, Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts" he said. The kids looked confused again, but didn't ask. They were grateful enough to hear that someone may be able to help them. "Now, you wait here. I'm gonna go up to the castle to get the man yeh'll need". And with that, the man left. They were surprised to see a castle in the direction he had headed. None of them had noticed it before.

"Well, that was easier than I thought it would be" Aang said.

"Looks like you won't be safe for long, Avatar" Azula said with a sadistic smile.

"You won't ever capture him you know. Zuko failed and so will you" Katara said confidently. Azula laughed.

"My dear brother has always been a failure. He will never be anything more, he's a disgrace to the Fire Nation" she said scathingly, looking at Zuko spitefully as she said it. Zuko's face turned angry, and fire started to envelope him. It died when he heard another voice.

"And you're a disgrace to humanity, you and the Fire Lord" Aang shot at her. Azula glared at him.

"Says the one who has hidden away from the world for a hundred years" she said.

"And you think that my disappearance gave you the right to take over the world? You think that gave you the right to wipe out the other Nations?" Aang said angrily, memories of the empty Air Bender temples and the skeleton of Giatsu (sp?) flooding his mind.

"Fire is superior to all the other elements. It is much more powerful than anything else" Azula said.

"No it isn't. Fire needs the other elements on order to preserve the balance. If you destroy the other nations, the balance will fail and you too will be destroyed" Aang said, trying to make her listen.

"You sound like my nutty uncle" Azula said. Aang sighed. It looked like she wouldn't listen. Her head was too full of what her father had taught her.

"As interesting as this is, that guy is coming back down here, with a rather freaky looking guy wearing a dress" Sokka said. Sure enough, as they looked to where Sokka was pointing Hagrid came back followed by another tall man, though nowhere near as tall as Hagrid, with a long silver beard that seemed to shine in the moonlight. Indeed, the man was wearing what appeared to be a long, purple dress.

As they came near, the tall man with the silver hair spoke. "Hagrid tells me you said you came from another world. Would you care to explain this?" he said.

"We're not really sure _how_ to explain it. We're not that sure ourselves. We were in a cave…" Aang began.

"Trying to escape from some nutcase Fire Nation girls trying to kill us" Sokka cut in. Azula snorted.

"We're trying to kill you, not the Avatar. If he dies he'll just reincarnate and the Fire Nation's stupid search begins all over again" she said in a carefree tone. The silver haired man frowned at this mention of such a young girl actually trying to kill people with no remorse. "And the Fire Lord wants the traitor and the failure back alive" she added as an afterthought. The two tall men looked even more confused now. Avatar? Fire Lord? Fire Nation? They had never heard of these things before, but from the way the girl in front of them spoke, they were rather important.

"As I was saying" Aang started rather loudly, trying to get back on the subject. "We were in a cave getting shelter for the night. When those three" Aang pointed at the three girls dressed in red (or more pink in Ty Lee's case) "came in, the cave sealed itself. Then there was this bright light and here we are" he finished.

"How do you know you are in a different world though? Couldn't it be that you're just in a different place?" the silver haired man asked. Aang shook his head.

"It feels different here. There's just something here that isn't in our world, and an absence of something that is. I don't know how to explain it" he said.

"How can you feel differences between worlds?" the silver haired man asked.

"Aang is the Avatar; he is the bridge between our world and the spirit world. Obviously…" Katara began.

"That's what's missing in this world. I can't feel anything of the spirit world" Aang said suddenly.

"Why don't we go up to my office to finish this discussion? Although it's summer, there is a bit of a chill tonight" the silver haired man said.

Once in the man's office, he summoned a bunch of chairs with a wave of his wand. He motioned for them to sit down. The kids stared at him. "How did you do that? Where did those chairs come from? What is that stick? What is this place? What are you?" Sokka began asking in a rush. The silver haired man put up a hand to silence him.

"I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I assume you have no idea what I am talking about, or what magic is, but moving on. I am also assuming you have nowhere to go?"

"No, we don't. I get the feeling that this world is much more different from our own" Toph said. She had been feeling unusual vibrations in the distance since they had arrived.

"Why don't you tell me a bit about your world? Starting with this 'Fire Nation'" Dumbledore said.

"Our world is divided up into four Nations: the Air Nomads, the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribe and the Fire Nation…" Aang began.

"Who are a bunch of flame throwing nutcases bent on world domination" Sokka butted in. Aang gave Sokka a look that said 'shut up, this is important if we want them to help'.

"As I was saying. Each of these nations has control over their own element. Each one has to exist to maintain the balance of our world" Aang said.

"Until the Fire Nation came along and wiped out all the Air Benders" Sokka said. "Sorry Aang" he added when he saw the look on Aang's face.

"We didn't wipe all of them out" Azula said. The others stared at her. "Think about it. The Fire Nation may have advanced technology now, but we didn't have it a hundred years ago" she said.

"And this means… what exactly?" Sokka asked her. Azula slapped a hand to her forehead.

"How else did Fire Nation soldiers manage to get into the Air Bender temples? There was a traitor amongst you, and we're not exactly going to kill someone who helped us now, are we" she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. As Dumbledore watched this exchange, he wondered if it was a good idea to help them.

"I wouldn't put it past you. I bet you'd kill your friends if it meant winning this stupid war" Sokka said. Ty Lee had a look of disbelief on her face.

"Azula wouldn't do that! We're her best friends, she'd never hurt us" she protested.

"Don't say I didn't warn you when the time comes she has to kill you" Sokka said.

"What is this talk about killing? It doesn't suit people as young as you" Dumbledore said.

"Our world is in the middle of a war, a war the Fire Nation started a hundred years ago. They wiped out the Air Benders, hunted down the Water Tribe almost to extinction, and now they're trying to wipe out the Earth Kingdom. The Avatar, Aang, is the only one who will be able to stop this from happening" Katara said

"I understand that all too well. We are also at war, with an evil wizard by the name of Voldemort" Dumbledore said. He ignored the shudder Hagrid gave at the name. "We also have a young boy who is the only one capable of defeating this man" he continued. "What I want to know is: can I trust those from this Fire Nation not to harm anyone while they are here?" he asked.

"Of course we won't, it's not in our interests is it? After all, we need you to get back, and if we harm anyone here that's not going to happen is it?" Azula said. Dumbledore sighed. Talking with her was like trying to convince the wizarding world to say Voldemort's name.

"Fine. The students will be coming back in a couple of weeks. Maybe you would like to take this opportunity to learn more about the Wizarding world and join the other students in their classes?" Dumbledore asked. Some of them opened their mouths to protest, until Katara stepped in.

"We would be honoured to learn from this school" she said, giving a traditional bow of respect. She then shot Sokka a look that said 'agree with me or else'. He didn't dare protest, lest he take a visit to a very wet place.

"Good, good. We will provide you with what you need. I doubt you will be able to use magic, so I will inform your teachers when the time comes. Hagrid will show you to your rooms for the time being, until then good night" Dumbledore said, a twinkle in his eyes.

Psycho Demon-Witch: ugh, writing crossovers can be so hard to begin with, what with all the damn explaining the characters have to do. Still, I do enjoy crossovers, so the end result is worth it. Pretty please leave a review!!!


	3. Chapter 3

Psycho Demon-Witch: I'm so very insanely sorry about the ridiculously long time it's been since I last updated ducks away from any flying objects I don't know how to make it up to you... I'm in university now so I don't know how often I'll be able to update, so again, I'm really really sorry.

Chapter Three

The two separate groups had been exploring the castle and its grounds for the last couple of days. Katara had made a note of where the library was, after all she'd proven herself to be quite the excellent water bending student. Maybe she'd try to excel here too, along with Aang who had also proven to be a great student. Sokka... well he was only interested in being a warrior, but there had to be something here that captured his interests even if his attention span could be somewhat short. Toph was another one only interested in a fight. Katara wondered how they'd all do, especially their fire bending companions. She wasn't worried about Iroh, and her concern for Zuko was minimal seeing as how he had his uncle to keep him in line, but those three girls...

Azula, Ty Lee and Mai were unpredictable, especially Azula. She wouldn't listen to anyone, and if she wanted something bad enough she would stop at nothing to get it, even if it meant breaking their truce and never getting back home... well possibly. Katara didn't know enough about Azula to know how much she would want to be with her own people. She was also a Princess there, which had to draw her back somewhat. What girl didn't want to be a Princess at some point in their life? Although she thought that Azula might take her position for granted.

Katara was walking along the edge of what they had been told was the Forbidden Forest with Aang, Sokka and Toph. Sokka and Toph were arguing about which was better, bending or being a warrior. Aang just tried to get them to stop by pointing out good things about both. Katara wasn't really interested. She might be biased towards bending, because that's what she was: a Waterbender. But the argument in itself was pointless.

They were approaching the lake now, Sokka and Toph still trying to argue out who was better. Katara made some motions with her hands and a large body of water splashed on top of Toph and Sokka. Both glared in her direction. "What was that for?" Sokka demanded. Katara glared right back.

"This argument is meaningless, we should be trying to find a way back, not be carrying on like five year olds" she said. With that she whirled round and headed back up to the castle. Maybe some quiet time alone would do her good. She took a route that she knew would lead her to the library, as she didn't think that anyone else would be up there. She pulled open the door and the place did appear deserted. She wandered around the shelves for a book that would catch her eye. Potion making... she wondered if that would help her healing abilities, after all she couldn't rely on water for everything. She chose a book for beginners and walked to a table where she sat down and flipped open the book.

She was so absorbed in her reading that she didn't notice the ex-general of the Fire Nation come up behind her. "Already learning about this world, eh?" he said, startling her. She jumped and spun round in her chair. She relaxed when she saw it was just Iroh. Then she spied Zuko not too far away. He was leaning moodily against one of the bookcases, arms folded, looking pointedly in another direction. She could tell he didn't want to be here as much as she didn't want him here. Her gaze flicked back to Iroh. She smiled at him and said

"Yes, I want to improve my abilities as a healer, should my bending be cut off for whatever reason" she paused, thinking of Ty Lee. That girl was trouble. "I want an alternate method of healing should one of my friends be hurt."She showed him her book.

"Potions? Those are also very effective for killing" Iroh said. Katara blushed.

"I'm not researching them for that, I don't want to kill anyone..."

"But it cannot be avoided in a war, which you and your friends are very much at the centre of" Iroh interrupted. Katara looked forlorn at that.

"Why did this war have to begin? Wasn't Fire Lord Souzen content with his own land and people? Why did he start taken the land of others, wiping their people out?"

"It's something I don't suppose we'll ever know, it was before our time after all" Iroh said.

"What about you, you were a General once weren't you?" Katara asked.

"Yes I was. It unfortunately took the death of my son to make me see this war for what it truly is, so I retired. I then started travelling with Zuko when he was banished..."

Zuko, who had remained quiet throughout the entire conversation suddenly burst out "Uncle, that's none of her business!" Katara gave him a look.

"It's not like I'm interested anyway" she shot at him.

"Good, because you will never find out" Zuko said heatedly.

"Fine"

"Fine"

With that Zuko turned and stormed off, presumably to his room. "What is his problem anyway?" Katara asked.

"Zuko's... not the best person at dealing with his anger" Iroh said, avoiding answering the question.

"Tch, tell me something I don't know" Katara muttered under her breath.

"Well, I'll leave you to your reading, I don't want Zuko and Azula to start trying to kill each other. For being siblings they hold much hatred for one another" and he also left, leaving Katara alone. Now it was too quiet. She supposed she should go find her brother and her friends. She got up and put the book back where she found it before exiting the library. She headed down to the lake, where she and her friend were when she separated from them. She soon spotted them, sat not far from the edge of the lake.

"Hey guys... I'm sorry I blew up before, I guess I'm just overreacting to this whole being in another world thing" she said to them.

"That's okay, if you weren't here to keep us all in line, who knows what we would do... and that's the only time you're gonna hear me say that. Ever" Sokka said, emphasising the ever. Katara smiled at him.

"And who says you're the only one needing keeping in line" she grinned mischieviously. Sokka never noticed, but a small puddle of water hung above his head.

"Huh, what do you mean?" he asked. That said, Katara let the puddle fall. Sokka spluttered as some of the water went up his nose and down his throat. "Hey, what was that for?" he demanded, before he charged at his younger sister. Katara laughed and dodged him as he ran at her. He turned and headed back at her, but she moved again so he crashed into Aang.

Aang sent a strong breeze at both Sokka and Katara, and not long after Toph joined in. She didn't really use her Earth bending though. That had the potential to cause a serious concussion or two. Their fun ended when they saw Azula and her friends nearby. They watched them warily. Even though there was a truce betweeb each separate group and neither had yet breached that truce, they were all still very cautious of one another. Azula then spotted them. She motioned for her friends to follow her and the three of them headed to Aang.

"So, how does the Avatar find this place, what with it lacking a spirit world?" she asked. Aang frowned.

"It's nice here, peaceful, despite the war that we've been told is going on. Why are you being so polite anyway? It's not like you" he said to her, his tone not hostile, yet holding none of its usual happiness.

"Well, seeing as how we're stuck here for who knows how long, I just decided it would be troublesome if we were constantly at each others backs without being able to actually fight, what with this truce and all" she replied with her usual sneer.

"I find it hard to believe that you want our time here to be peaceful" Sokka cut in. Azula regarded him coldly.

"No one asked you, water peasant" she said.

"So much for politeness" Aang said.

"Oh well, we just came down to tell you that dinner's being served in that huge hall" Ty Lee said bouncily. Azula shot her an annoyed look. She had wanted to torment them some more. Ty Lee didn't even notice though as she flipped herself to stand on her hands. Mai only looked bored as she so often did.

"Well, Avatar, as pleasant as our talk has been we will be going now" Azula said with as much of sneer in her voice as any of them had ever heard.

Katara folded her arms. "What is it with the Fire Nation people and being so... so... rude" she exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Aang asked.

"I ran into Zuko in the library. I was talking with his uncle about the war, then his banishment came up and he got all mad and stormed off" she replied. Aang frowned.

"Honour is everything to the Fire Nation, a lot of them consider it worse than death to be banished. Add into the fact that the only person who would have had the power to banish Zuko is the Fire Lord, his father, I can kinda see where he was coming from... but you're right, he shouldn't have been so rude about it" he said, quickly putting his hands up in defence. Katara had started to glare at him when it sounded like he was defending Zuko's behaviour, so he quickly thought to rectify the situation, to save himself being cold and wet, much like Sokka was at that moment. Katara sighed.

"Well, I suppose we'd better go before the food gets cold" she said. Sokka was right with her. They walked straight back to the castle, and entered the main door into the entrance hall. There were a couple of ghosts floating around. Aang looked at them.

"... I suppose the dead have to go somewhere, if there's no spirit world" he said after a pause. His statement caught the attention of one of the ghosts, the one wearing a very ruffled collar.

"Not many people become ghosts young sir, usually only those of us who died sudden deaths who wished to remain attached to this world" he said.

"Then where do people go when they die?" Aang asked.

"I would not know, I'm not there, I am here" the ghost said almost mournfully.

"This place just gets weirder and weirder" Aang complained. Katara raised an eyebrow.

"You're what? A hundred and twelve, thirteen years of age and you're saying this is weird?" she asked rhetorically.

"Well... I suppose, but as the Avatar I'm the bridge between our world and the spirit world. This is strange to me" Aang said.

"Everything about anything we get ourselves into is strange and makes no sense, now can we get some food? I'm starving" Sokka said.

"I'm with boomerang boy here, we can think over the whole dead people thing later" Toph added. Aang looked back at the ghost.

"Sorry if I was rude... I'll be going now" he said and followed the others to the great hall.

There was only one table set up, considering there were only staff members preparing their classes for the next year, and themselves in the entire castle. They couldn't see any other tables in the hall, which looked odd because it was a big hall. They supposed they had been moved away using magic. Anything that wasn't to be explained, they instantly started thinking of magic.

Azula, Mai and Ty Lee were already sitting at the table, alongside a woman with her hair in a tight bun, and a stern face. Aang already decided he didn't want to cross this woman. Zuko and Iroh had yet to make an appearance. He supposed Zuko was still angry about the topic of his banishment and Iroh was trying to calm him. There were some chairs free opposite the Headmaster, so they each pulled out a chair and sat down. There was no food on the table at all, all the dishes and plates were empty. "Only two more to come... I'm sure they won't mind if we start without them?" Albus more stated than asked. "Good, good." With that he waved his hands and food appeared from seemingly nowhere.

Everyone instantly dug in. Some of the food was strange to them, but they tried a bit of everything anyway, except Aang who didn't eat any of the meat.

About half way through the meal, Iroh walked through the door, followed by a very calm looking Zuko. He completely ignored the Avatar and his friends, and his sister. Both sat down, apologising for their lateness. Albus waved off their apology, saying it was nice of them to join them at last.

Some of the staff talked amongst themselves, one of them occassionally asking Aang or one of the others questions about their world. Everything was fine until:

"How did you get that scar?" one of the younger, more inexperienced members of staff asked. She was a new Charms Professor, only just turned twenty three, that had started only last year. Professor Flitwick had spent that year teaching her to be a Professor, and now she would be taking some of the younger classes.

Zuko tensed. He had been hoping that no one would ask, that everyone would know to leave things alone. His head hung forward slightly, his hair hanging in his eyes as if trying to hide away from the world.

"Not going to tell them Zuzu?" a mocking voice came from the opposite end of the table. "Alright then, I will. Zuzu here disgraced himself in our father's war chamber, and then refused to fight him in an Agni Kai, a fire duel. For his cowardice, he was stripped of his honour, burned and banished until he could capture the Avatar who had been missing for a hundred years. He was to never return as everyone thought the Avatar was dead though it turns out he isn't. That however is a different story." Azula's face was one of pure malice and joy at the look of pain that flashed across her brother's face.

Everyone was silent. Aang had suspected something like that, but it had never actually been confirmed. It certainly explained a lot. The Professors were outraged, and some of them showed it. How could someone harm their child like that, and how could a sibling find such pleasure in it? They decided then that they didn't like Azula, but of course they wouldn't be allowed to show it. Wouldn't be professional. The young Charms Professor's voice broke the silence. "I'm so sorry, I should not have asked" she whispered.

"Don't apologise for something that isn't your fault" Zuko merely said.

"But I..."

"I said don't!" he exclaimed. She nodded, and began to poke her food around her plate. Dinner was finished in awkward silence, with Azula smirking in sadistic pleasure. Ty Lee and Mai in particular didn't share her glee. They almost looked uncomfortable with themselves for staying where they were. Zuko was the first to leave the table, shortly followed by Iroh. When they had left the hall and began climbing the stairs to their rooms, Iroh placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder.

"Zuko..." he began, the hesitated, unsure of how to continue.

"I'm fine Uncle, really. She doesn't bother me as much as she used to" Zuko cut him off from anthing he would have said.

"It's not just Azula though, is it? Everyone else down there knows about it, including the Avatar"

"It doesn't change a thing, and they'd better not show me any pity, or they'll regret it" Zuko fired out. Iroh knew he wouldn't hurt anyone, not while a truce was in place. His honour wouldn't let him. Azula was wrong about that, Zuko's honour had never been taken from him.

Psycho Demon-Witch: I'll repeat once more: I'm really really sorry about the long time it's taken me to update. Please forgive me. I've already been given three assignments to complete, so I'm not going to have much time in the near future... not unless you want me to rush my updates, which I highly doubt. Wouldn't be very nice for you to read, would it? Anyways, I would appreciate it if you would leave a review telling me what you think of my story... sorry, I am a bit of a review whore, but I won't ever hold my fics ransom for them, that I promise you


	4. Chapter 4

Psycho Demon-Witch: hello again, and thank you once again for the reviews. They make me happy. see? In response to one review... sorry about there being no Snape, I can't believe I forgot him, he's like my favourite Harry Potter character!!! He's in this chapter though!

Chapter Four

"... don't tell me you're siding with him? He's weak, and a traitor to the Fire Nation" a voice was heard distantly in the corridor. Aang couldn't sleep. He was up wandering around when he heard a few female voices. He couldn't help but be curious about what was being said, so he headed in the general direction of the voices. One was distinctly Azula's, which meant any others were Mai's and Ty Lee's.

"Of course not, I'm your friend, but don't you think it was just a little over the top to tell complete strangers something like that?" Ty Lee asked.

"Don't be silly, we have nothing to hide from the likes of them. It's strange though, I expected Zuzu to overreact like he always does. He should have broken the terms of the truce, then I would have had an excuse to put him out of his misery" Azula said cruelly. Aang's eyes widened. That family was insane, and that wasn't proper sibling behaviour. He had seen Sokka and Katara fight, but it never led to injury... not serious injury anyway, yet here was Azula looking for an excuse to kill her older brother. "You know full well that my father wouldn't care, he was fully prepared to kill Zuko five years ago, just before our mother disappeared"

"I still don't understand why he would want to kill Zuko though. Whenever I saw Zuko at home, before his banishment, he was always well behaved and did what was asked of him..." that was Ty Lee again.

"It was so that my father could become Fire Lord. Grandfather had told father that he had to feel the pain of losing a first born son before he could take Uncle's place as heir to the throne. Unfortunately Grandfather died before dear Zuzu could be killed, I bet Mother had something to do with it" Azula said thoughtfully. Aang moved closer. They were just around the corner now. He peeked round. Ty Lee was doing hand stands in the middle of the corridor, while Mai was sat next to a suit of armour. Azula stood just a few feet away, thankfully with her back to him. Why they would meet in the middle of a random corridor was beyond him. Mai looked over at him. She made a subtle movement of her hand to tell him to leave. Unfortunately, Azula noticed.

"Whoever's there had better show themselves right now" she said turning around. Aang appeared from behind his corner. "Oh, it's you, I was expecting you to be someone else. Never pegged you for the eavesdropping type"

"Well, you wouldn't know me that well, what with trying to kill me and all" Aang said defensively.

"I make it a point to know my enemies better than anyone, after all it makes them so much easier to predict" she replied.

"And to kill I suppose" Aang shot back. Azula smirked.

"Indeed" she said. They stared each other down for a few more moments before Ty Lee said she was getting tired. Azula glanced to her. She saw the girl's uneasiness in the situation.

"We should go, we have a truce, his friends will think we did something to him if they come now" Mai said from her place on the floor. She stood up and moved next to Ty Lee, who nodded her agreement.

"Fine, we'll see you in the morning then, Avatar" Azula said before pushing past him, Mai and Ty Lee following shortly behind her. Aang's eyes followed them until they disappeared from sight. He let the brave mask fall from his face, showing how he really was: tired. He was so worried for his world at the moment. How were they, how much time had passed, had the Fire Lord won the war in his absence. He hated thinking of these things, but he couldn't help it. They'd only been here for a couple of days, but anything could have happened back home.

He wandered aimlessly around. For how long, he didn't know, but he soon noticed that the sun had started to rise. He decided to head back to his room, so that the others didn't worry about him or wonder where he had been. No such luck. Toph was stood outside his bedroom door. "Where have you been Twinkle Toes?" she demanded.

"I couldn't sleep, went for a walk" Aang replied.

"You need to learn to relax, there's no point in worrying about our world at the moment. There's nothing we can do to help them until we get back" Toph said. For her that was comforting.

"I guess you're right, but I'm the Avatar, I'm supposed to..." he began but Toph cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah you're supposed to maintain the balance in the world and stuff, I've heard that like a million times now, and I've said there is nothing you can do, so stop being so mopey" she said in a more stern voice. She turned her blind eyes to him. "You should get some sleep, you'll be needing it, I'm going to drill you on some Earth bending techniques later" she said before leaving for the room she shared with Katara.

Once she had gone he opened the door and was greeted with Sokka's loud snoring. He flopped down onto his bed and tried to sleep, but he was tossing and turning until Sokka woke a couple of hours later. "Hey Aang, you sleep well?" he asked. Aang almost screamed.

"Yeah, fine" he said.

"Great, now, breakfast." Aang almost groaned. Despite how tired he was from his lack of sleep he pulled himself out of his bed, got dressed and went with Sokka to meet Katara and Toph a little further down the corridor before they went down to the Great Hall. Along the way, they bumped into Azula, Mai and Ty Lee. Azula smirked in the Avatar's direction, and he stared defiantly back at her. Mai looked bored, as usual, but Ty Lee looked a little down about something. Aang figured it was about last night. She looked in his direction, but soon turned away when she realised his gaze was upon her.

Once they arrived at the Great Hall, they saw that all the staff were already there, but there was another man there too, someone they didn't recognise. He was dressed all in black, with hair and eyes as dark as his clothing. The man turned to look at them when he heard the door go and then looked at Professor Dumbledore quizzically. Dumbledore looked to them as well. "Ah, I'd forgotten to tell you Severus. They arrived here a couple of days ago, seemingly from nowhere. Most of them have strange abilities, control over the elements. They will be staying here until we can find a way for them to go home" he explained. He turned back to Aang and the others. "This is Professor Snape, the Potions Master. He's been away for a few days on... other business". Some of them noticed the pause in the old man's sentence, but chose not to comment on it. A voice came from behind them.

"Excuse me, but could you let an old man pass, you're blocking the door". It was Iroh and Zuko. Aang and Katara apologised, and they all moved towards the table. They sat down and soon breakfast was served, with the dishes as always filling themselves. Toph sat next to Snape, much to his displeasure. Summer was supposed to be the time when he wasn't being bothered by children. And Toph being Toph, he was going to be bothered quite a bit more than usual.

"So, what's this business of yours?" she asked him, quite loudly. The rest of the staff immediately went silent. Snape turned cold, dark eyes on her.

"None of yours, I would like to eat in peace" he said. Toph, being unable to see wasn't at all intimidated by his glare as most other students were.

"Is it that great of a secret? It's not anything illegal, is it?" she asked, meaning it only as a joke. When she felt him tense, however, she immediately dropped her grin and asked Dumbledore "did you know one of your teachers is breaking the law?"

"Yes, I did. Even the best of us do terrible things in wars, now I believe that this discussion should end" Dumbledore replied to her in a kind but firm tone. Snape was surprised that she had picked up on that. She couldn't see, and he hadn't given any signs that would betray him, he knew he hadn't, so how...?

"I can feel vibrations through the ground, I can tell every movement you make, I know when you're telling a lie... it makes things convenient in a fight, or when you want to find something out. I'm more convenient than any other interrogator you'll meet" Toph said with great confidence in her voice.

"I doubt that greatly, even if you do have unusual abilities" Snape said. Toph replied by poking her tongue out and turning back to her food.

"Sorry about that, Toph isn't the most... subtle or well mannered of people" Katara said to him. Toph frowned at her.

"I noticed" Snape said shortly, not even looking at her.

"Hey Sugar Queen, how I behave is none of your concern, and you know that I can be the most polite person ever if I felt like it, but I don't feel like it so butt out" Toph said.

"Maybe if you felt like being polite more often, people would like you more" Katara shot back.

"I don't care, if people can't accept me for being me then they're not worth bothering with"

"People won't accept you at all if you're just going to be rude to them"

"Hey, guys, let's just calm down, we shouldn't fight amongst ourselves" Aang said, interrupting their argument. Katara folded her arms and looked intently at her plate, while Toph returned to wolfing her food down. Aang let out a sigh of relief and went back to nibbling on a peach. It was then that they all heard a screeching from overhead. Everyone looked up to see an owl being chased around by some sort of lemur. "Hey, Momo, the owl doesn't want to play, come here" Aang called to him. Momo, hearing his name called flew down to the table, where Aang gave him the rest of his peach. The owl landed in front of Dumbledore and held out its leg where a letter was attached. Dumbldore took the letter, opened it and quickly read over it,

"If you would excuse me, I have some important business to attend to. Minerva, Severus, if you could join me in my office?" All three Professors rose from the table and left the hall at a fast pace. Aang looked questioningly at some of the other members of staff, but either they didn't know anything, or they were refusing to tell. Most probably the latter.

Once breakfast was over, as Toph promised, they went outside to practice earthbending. Aang, being as tired as he was from his lack of sleep that night, was slower than he usually was, and got a couple of good knocks from boulders. Katara watched this and grew concerned. "Aang" she called out. Aang looked towards her, and as a result got hit with another rock. "Toph, can you please stop earthbending for a moment, I want to talk to Aang" she said to the younger girl.

"You can talk to him after his lesson, I don't exactly go around interrupting your water bending lessons" was the girls reply.

"Aang's not in the best condition right now, haven't you noticed?" Katara asked her angrily.

"Of course I have, that's what happens when you go wandering around a castle all night" Toph retorted.

"And you're still making him do this?" Katara asked.

"Yes, I told him he shouldn't be worrying about things he can't do anything about but he didn't listen. Maybe I can tire him out enough so that he will sleep tonight" Toph said, shifting into another stance. Katara threw her hands up in the air, but didn't say another word. She sat down on a nearby log and folded her arms angrily, glaring at the scene before her.

Aang was now back on his feet, facing Toph with a bit more determination. He brought up a boulder of his own from the ground, sending it straight in Toph's direction, who deflected it by bringing up a wall of rock to shield herself. Both wall and boulder smashed to pieces, sending debris flying around thirty feet in all directions. Toph grinned. "That's more like it Twinkle Toes" she said happily. Aang responded by sending more boulders in her direction, each one she either deflected or completely avoided. "Hey, it looks like we've added someone to the audience" she said suddenly, dropping her stance. Aang did the same and looked around until he saw Iroh, who was clapping with a smile on his face.

"That was quite a show, you're mastering the elements rather quickly young Avatar" he said. Aang looked embarrassed.

"Well, it's not just me, I have the best teachers in the world" he said, looking at Katara and Toph in turn.

"I don't suppose you've learnt to firebend yet, have you?" Iroh asked.

"No, I don't really want to either... the last time I tried I hurt Katara" he said, looking at the floor in shame. Katara, who had just walked over put her hand comfortingly on his shoulder.

"You weren't as disciplined as you are now, maybe you'd have better luck controlling it this time" she said.

"Thanks Katara, but who's gonna teach me? There aren't many firebenders I can think of who would be willing to go against the Fire Lord" Aang said.

"I can think of one" Toph piped up. The others looked at her. She pointed at Iroh. "What about him, he's against the Fire Lord, and if the rumours I've heard about him are true, he's a brilliant firebender" she said.

"I am sorry to disappoint, but it is not my destiny to teach the Avatar how to firebend" Iroh replied before Aang could ask him. Aang's face fell slightly for a moment, before it perked up.

"Does that mean you know who my firebending teacher should be?" Aang asked.

"It is something you should figure out yourself" Iroh said cryptically.

"Do you annoy Mopey this much as well?" Toph asked. Iroh laughed.

"Much more than this, he is like a son to me after all" he said.

"Speaking of which, where is he?" Aang asked. Iroh paused for a moment.

"I left him practicing his firebending just a moment ago. Though he is not yet a master he is steadily improving" he said. Sokka, who had suddenly decided to come over, snorted.

"Yeah, that's just what we need, an even more powerful firebender on our tail" he said in disdain.

"Mopey's not chased you in all the time I've known you, and that's a while" Toph pointed out. Sokka's mouth opened as if to retort, but quickly closed when he couldn't think of decent enough reply.

"So, you really can't tell me who my firebending teacher will be?" Aang asked in a last attempt to make Iroh spill his teachers identity to him.

"I am sorry Avatar, but I cannot reveal such things to anyone" Iroh said, not sounding too sorry at all. "You will find out soon enough, I am sure" he added at the look of disappointment on Aang's face.

"Really? How soon?" the boy asked. Iroh sighed.

"You are a more curious person than Zuko, and I didn't think that was possible" he said. "I'm not going to tell you, you'll find out when you find out, that's all there is to it". Aang pouted.

"Hey Mopey's heading this way" Toph said. Iroh turned around to face the direction he had come from, just in time to see Zuko appearing.

"There you are, I was wondering where you were" he said, purposefully ignoring everyone else.

"Well, now you know. Have you finished that sequence?" Iroh asked.

"Would I have come looking for you if I hadn't?" Zuko retorted.

"If you were worried you would" Iroh said. Zuko looked slightly flustered at that statement.

"I wasn't worried" he muttered under his breath.

"I'm sure you weren't Zuko" Iroh said indulgently. "Now, how about you show me the progress you made on that sequence?" he asked. Zuko looked around, acknowledging the others' presence for the first time.

"Now?" he asked.

"Is something wrong with that?" Iroh asked. Zuko glared at him.

"Yes" he said pointedly, his gaze circling around the group again, indicating to his uncle what the problem was.

"You scared you'll mess up, Mopey?" Toph asked. Zuko's glare turned to her, which was pointless as she couldn't see it to be scared of it.

"It's been a pleasure speaking with all of you, but Zuko and I will leave you to your training, and we'll return to ours" Iroh said, cutting them both off before a confrontation could occur.

"What in th' world has bin goin' on here?" came a loud voice. Hagrid had been looking for them, and now that he had, he was quite surprised at the damage to the grounds. Toph grinned at him.

"Earth bending" she said. Aang bowed in apology.

"Sorry, we'll put everything back how it should go" he said.

"Yeah, anyway, Dumbledore wanted me ter tell yeh somethin'. Already told yer sister" he said, the last part aimed at Zuko. "He's bin at Order Headquarters, and th'other members have bin told about yeh. Some of 'em want ter meet yeh, so we're gonna take you there. Yeh'll have ter be put under an oath before goin' though, just ter make sure yeh don' tell anyone" he explained.

"That sounds cool, but what is this Order?" Katara asked.

"Order o' the Phoenix, it's a group o' witches an' wizards that're fightin' against You-Know-Who" Hagrid said

"You mean that Volde... something guy?" Toph asked. Hagrid gave the smallest flinch at the partial voicing of the name.

"Yeah, the younger members are curious abou' yeh" he replied.

"Really?" Aang piped up. "We're curious too. We haven't really seen any of the teachers here use magic" he said.

"Yeh're outta luck then. Underage wizards ain't allowed ter use magic outside o' school" Hagrid said.

"But some of them will be using magic, right?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, but yeh'll mostly be seein' household spells" Hagrid told him. Aang looked thoughful for a moment.

"That's good enough for me" he said cheerfully.

Psycho Demon-Witch: Sorry it's another sort of filler chapter. The main Harry Potter characters will be introduced in the next chapter, promise! This actually took me a while to do, because I got stuck in so many places. I couldn't think what to type... anyways, I'm gonna bugger off now, because I have an assignment due in a couple of days and I've not actually started it... oops. It's a really weird one, I've got no clue how to go about it. Oh well, I'll blag it, that had actually worked for me so far.


	5. Chapter 5

Psycho Demon-Witch: wow I got so many reviews for that chapter and in such a short time too! Is very happy, and thanks all those who reviewed! I thankfully managed to finish my assignment, and have handed it in, so there's a bonus for me... just one more to do.

Chapter Five

Everyone had been told to wake up earlier that day. Dumbledore wanted them to get to Grimmauld Place without there being too many people around. As a result, they missed breakfast, though Dumbledore promised them that a huge breakfast would be waiting for them once they got to Headquarters. This somewhat quietened Sokka's initial whining at missing a meal.

They had arrived at Grimmauld Place via something called a Portkey, which actually just like someone's old hairbrush. Apparently just about any object could be made into a Portkey, but there were strict regulations on them. The one they were using wasn't authorised by the Ministry of Magic, but Dumbledore merely said that their need for secrecy was dire, as there were Deatheaters working at the ministry.

Dumbledore had been one of three teachers to come with them, explaining that he had to come to fully explain the situation, as he hadn't told most of his staff everything regarding their unusual guests. Snape was there to report on Voldemort's latest movements, while McGonagall was just there, probably to ensure things didn't get too hectic as they so often did with her colleagues and the rest of the Order.

Once they had arrived, Dumbledore got out a piece of paper, and handed it to each of them to read. He was getting rather tired of explaining it to all the Order members, so he'd written it down instead. Toph frowned. "Hey, I can't read" she said. Dumbledore looked taken aback for a moment.

"Don't worry about that, just stick with us and you'll be able to get in" Dumbledore said. The small girl rolled her eyes, and muttered under her breath about people forgetting her handicap.

"To be fair Toph, with the way you see through Earthbending, it's easy to forget that you're blind" Katara said. Toph ignored her.

"Now I want you to memorise what's on that piece of paper and imagine it clearly in your heads" Dumbledore said to them. They did so, and were astonished to see a house appearing between two other houses, seemingly pushing those houses out of the way.

"Surely people in this world aren't so stupid that they wouldn't notice this" Azula said, with some surprise in her voice.

"There anti-muggle charms, protection charms and other things on the house. The previous owners were rather... paranoid and secretive people"Dumbledore explained. "Now, come along". As they started walking, Toph grabbed onto the arm of the person nearest to her, which was Aang, saying that she had been told to stick close to them, and couldn't get any closer this way.

The inside of the house was surpisingly clean, if not a little shabby, with some rather unsightly items here and there, such as the umbrella stand nearby. Dumbledore led them all into a large, but rather cramped kitchen. There were many other people there, about half of them being red headed. Aang assumed these people were all related in some way, because they all shared other characterics with each other aside from hair colour... though the relation of the twins stood grinning mischieviously in the corner was easy to spot. A shorter than average, slightly plump red headed woman, presumably the mother of the red headed children, was busy serving dishes with the help of a bushy haired teenager, and a red headed teenager. In these dishes were foods much like the ones served at the school, sausages, bacon and lots of toast. The woman was distracted dishing up some beans, and didn't notice them at first.

"Good morning, Mrs Weasley, breakfast smells wonderful as usual" Dumbledore said. The woman jumped.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting you all so soon" she said, placing the large bowl of beans on the table.

"I do apologise, I didn't want too many witnesses you see" Dumbeldore explained.

"Of course... these are the people you spoke of?"

"Yes they are. Most of them are quite unusual, having control of an element" Dumbledore replied.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but... from your letter, I wasn't expecting so many of them to be children. You said their world was also involved in a war" a man with brown hair said.

"Are children not also involved in this war also?" Dumbledore asked sadly, looking around the room at the teenagers in it, his eyes resting upon a black haired boy with an unusual shaped scar on his forehead. The boy fidgeted uncomfortably at the gaze. Dumbledore's gaze snapped away from him after a moment. "On another note, Severus has another report to give after breakfast" he said.

"Will you be joining us then?" Mrs Weasley asked.

"Of course we shall, it's not often we get the opportunity to join you, and you'll be staying too Severus" he said, noticing that Snape was silently trying to leave before he was asked to join them.

"Albus, I must..."

"Nonsense, you need to socialise more" Dumbledore said, waving off any protest Snape might have made. Snape reluctantly joined them as more chairs were conjured from seemingly nowhere. Somehow, Zuko and Azula had ended up sitting next to one another. Looking at Dumbledore's twinkling eyes Aang thought the old man must have had something to do with it. He really didn't know what he was letting himself in for, by placing those two anywhere near each other. Zuko had noticed this as well, and was glaring daggers at the old man, who merely smiled pleasantly at him. Azula was sneering at her brother, edging her chair as far away from him as possible, while Zuko did the same.

"Now, these interesting people are Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Iroh, Azula, Ty Lee and Mai" Dumbledore said, pointing to each of them in turn.

"Are we not interesting enough now?" one of the twins asked.

"I suppose we'll have to try harder" the other said.

"Those two are the Weasley twins, be careful around them unless you want to be the victim of one of their more... interesting pranks. And the rest of the Weasley family, Mr and Mrs Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Ron and Ginny" Dumbledore said. That accounted for every single red head in the room, none of the Weasley's having hair of a different colour. He then introduced everyone else in the room. "Then we have Harry, Hermione, Remus, Tonks... I do believe we are missing someone"

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE" came a loud voice from behind the door. It turned to reveal a man covered in scars, a false eye and a false leg. Aang was fascinated, yet slightly nauseated at the eye because it seemed to move independantly of the other eye. The man stopped at the table and sat down. "So these are those element controlling kids you were talking about" the man stated.

"Alastor, how nice to see you. And this is Alastor Moody" Dumbledore said pleasantly, introducing the man to their guests.

"How do you know they won't reveal any information to any... questionable people?" the man, Alastor, demanded.

"They are under a wizards oath, they cannot say anything to anyone" Dumbledore replied calmly.

"Is it unbreakable?"

"Of course not, I wouldn't be so heartless"

"There are ways to get around those, you know there are" Moody said, sounding a little more mad as he spoke.

"They will be at Hogwarts until we can find a way for them to get home, who will get any information out of them?" Dumbledore asked.

"There are children of questionable character there, the spawn of Deatheaters". At Moody's statement, Snape looked furious.

"There aren't as many of them loyal to the Dark Lord's cause as you seem to be implying. Just because they are Slytherin that does not make them evil" he said. His voice was deadly quiet, and the rest of the room had become silent as he spoke.

"I'm sure Alastor wasn't accusing the Slytherin house of anything like that, were you Alastor" Dumbledore said, giving Moody a look that bordered on dangerous. "How then, let's start this breakfast before it gets cold" he said, suddenly his usual cheery self. They all sat down, and started to help themselves to the food. It seemed that Mrs Weasely was used to guests coming unannounced, as there was still enough food for everyone.

There were some delicious looking cakes sat in the middle of the table. They all had different coloured icing on top of them. No one seemed to be touching them though, so Aang and the others avoided them too. Except Sokka that is. He immediately grabbed one with purple icing on top. he bushy haired girl, Hermione reached her hand out to stop him. But she was too late, he had already taken a bite out of the cake. "Mmm, these are good" Sokka said with a full mouth. The wizards looked bemused, they thought the cakes were more of Fred and George's tricks. Then Sokka sprouted bright purple fur all over his head. Most people at the table burst out laughing, even Snape managed to look a little amused. "Wha..." Sokka was hardly able to speak, he was so shocked. Mrs Weasley looked angry.

"Fred and George Weasley, you reverse this immediately!" she yelled at the twins, who were howling with laughter. They soon calmed down when their mother yelled at them, though they still had silly grins on their faces. "NOW" Mrs Weasley yelled, even louder than before.

"Alright, alright" they said. Fred pulled a bag out of his pocket, and rooted around in it. He pulled out a purple sweet and handed it to Sokka, who could hardly see through his new hairdo. Fred rooted through the hair in the area where Sokka's mouth was. When he found it, he shoved the sweet into his mouth. "Just swallow that, and the fur will all fall out" he said. Sokka chewed on the sweet for a moment, then swallowed. For a few seconds, nothing happened, then the fur all dropped to the floor, revealing a confused looking Sokka.

"I do apologise, I never thought to warn you about Fred and George" Mrs Weasley said.

"Uhh... that's fine... I'm just not going to eat anything unless I know what it is" Sokka said. He looked towards the twins, who were once again laughing. "How'd you do that?" he asked them.

"Trade secret" they said simultaneously. Their mother shot them another angry look.

"You'll be cleaning this kitchen top to bottom once breakfast is over, and if there's a speck of dust or dirt anywhere, I'll be force feeding you some of your own jokes" she said. Fred and George looked at her in dismay.

"But mum..."

"No buts, or I'll carry out my threat THEN make you clean the kitchen while still under its affects" she said sternly. The twins cowered.

"Yes mum" they squeaked. The twins were all of a sudden in no hurry to finish their breakfast. They sulked and pushed their food around their plates instead. While they were sulking, everyone quickly their breakfast, making sure to avoid anything suspicious looking for breakfast food.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, why don't you show our guests around the house?" Mrs Weasley asked them as she began using her wand to neatly pile the empty plates and dishes on top of each other.

"Fine, this way" Ron said, gesturing for the guests to follow him, Harry and Hermione. Ginny also hopped to her feet and quickly followed them out. "Oi, who said you could come?" Ron asked her teasingly. Ginny was not amused however.

"I'll go wherever I want Ronald Bilius Weasley, and if you think you're leaving me out you can think again" she said, throwing a dark look at her brother.

"Can't you take a joke?" Ron asked, not really expecting an answer. Which was just as well, because he didn't get one. He led them all to a door. He opened it to reveal a relatively large room filled with squashy armchairs and sofas. "This is the main living room, though I don't know why we bother having one, everyone stays in the kitchen" he said, in a tone of mild confusion.

"Rather poorly kept isn't it" Azula remarked in harsh tone of voice.

"Hey, I already said we don't really use this room" Ron defended.

"Besides, this house has only recently been made habitable. We've had to clean and disinfect everything" Hermione cut in.

"I would say it's still uninhabitable" Azula said.

"Yeah, well no one was asking you" Ron snapped at her. A spark appeared at Azula's hand. She was getting dangerously close to toasting this boy. Aang noticed this and quickly intervened.

"So what about the rest of the house?" he asked, distracting Azula from her killing intent.

"Oh, right... well there's actually not much to the house. I don't know why mum insisted I show you around" Ron mused. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Isn't it obvious? They don't want us to hear Snape's report" she said in an exasperated tone. "Honestly Ron, don't you pay attention to anything?" Ron mumbled under his breath about not being a know-it-all.

"You don't have to be a know-it-all to realise that" Hermione said acidly. "You're just dense".

"Hey, I'm not dense" Ron protested.

"Come on you two, we still have to 'show them around'" Harry said, the last part emphasised sarcastically.

"Why bother, it's not like there's anywhere else here to know about" Ron said.

"Then what do you suppose we do? It's not like we can go back to the kitchen" Hermione asked.

"We could just get to know each other better, they'll be staying at Hogwarts anyway" Harry said. He sat down on one of the saggy sofas and motioned for everyone else to join him. They all sat down, apart from Azula who stayed stood where she was, her nose turned up at the thought of sitting in such a place.

"Well... we already know your names, how about you tell us more about your control over the elements" Ginny asked.

"In our world there are four nations: the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, the Air Nomads and the Fire Nation. In each nation there are people who can control that nation's element. I guess it's like this world really. Some people have magic, others don't" Aang said. Katara then cut in.

"In every generation, though, there is a person born in one of the nations that can control all four elements. This person is known as the Avatar, the current Avatar being Aang" she explained.

"Hey, you two forgot to mention how the Fire Nation are just a bunch of power hungry lunatics bent on world domination. They destroyed the Air Nomads, and are trying to do the same to the other nations" Sokka said, with an angry look at all Fire Nation citizens in the room.

"You mean they're evil?" Ron demanded, pointing to the people in red clothing.

"Yes, all they do is cause destruction and pain" Sokka fumed.

"Well, we can't help being superior to you" Azula said carelessly, examining her nails.

"That's like the attitude Voldemort has" said an angry Harry. "He believes that Pure-bloods are superior to Muggle-borns, better than them. He tortures and kills muggles just for the fun of, and does worse to anyone he thinks is standing in his way" he finished, with a glare at Azula. She wasn't fazed though, she was used to seeing those looks from her brother and the people of the Earth Kingdom.

"What I have said is true, fire is superior to the other elements, we're just trying to help the other nations see it that way" she replied. Zuko's fists clenched at his sides. He knew that wasn't how the other nations felt. They were hated the Fire Nation, they wanted them out of their homes and lives. He knew the truth, he had spent time with these people, saw the pain they were in.

"Do you even realise the contradictions in your words Azula?" Iroh demanded. He stepped forwards. "You say you are trying to help them, but in reality all you're doing is imprisoning them, hurting them. If the Fire Nation truly wished the people of the other nations no harm, they would leave, and return to their own lands"

"Sacrifices must be made" Azula replied.

"Like those recruits?" Zuko blurted out. Azula turned her malicious stare to him, and smirked. She knew what he was talking about, the recruits he had been banished trying to save. His banishment had been in vain, those recruits had still been sent out to face the Earth Kingdom's army.

"Still bitter about that, Zuzu?" she asked mockingly. Zuko made half a step towards her, but his uncle stopped him.

"She's trying to make you break the truce, don't fall for it" Iroh said quietly. Zuko instantly calmed, but fixed a glare on his younger sister.

"I thought you two were supposed to be related. Then again, you are Fire Nation, it makes sense that you would turn on each other as well" Sokka said.

"Zuko's technically not Fire Nation, he was burned and banished three years ago, after he dishonoured our father. I thought I already explained this" Azula said, shooting a cruel look in Zuko's direction. He returned it instantly. "And it doesn't look like he'll ever be coming back" she added, twisting the metaphoric knife further. A flash of flame appeared at Zuko's fists, but as soon as it appeared, it was gone again. Instead of falling for his sisters' baiting, he stormed angrily out of the room, leaving his concerned looking uncle alone.

"Azula, we had a truce. Baiting your brother into breaking it will bring severe consequences" Iroh said sternly, fixing her with a look that made sure Azula understood the threat in his words: if you hurt him, you'll have me to deal with. Azula merely brushed him off. Harry and his friends sat in silence watching the entire exchange. They weren't surprised about their involvement in a war as young as they were, after all they themselves were in the middle of one. It was the fact that Azula was so cruel. They knew their fair share of bullies at Hogwarts, but nothing at school compared to this level of cruelty.

They were also surprised that Azula took such delight in the fact that her brother had been burned. Though they did not yet know exactly where that burn had come from, they could easily tell it was one of the most sensitive subjects involving Zuko. It was particularly surprising to the Weasley's, who even though there were so many of them, were a close family.

"I bet you're in Slytherin" Ron said in disgust at the Fire Nation princess. She looked mildly confused for a second, before remembering she'd heard the word at Hogwarts. It was one of the four houses, each one represented by a different animal. Iroh, who was going to be helping out the staff also knew what Slytherin was, and he knew about the rivalry between Slytherin and the other three houses. It seemed like a children's version of the war between the Fire Nation and the rest of the world... that escalated into full blown hatred and war once they left school it seemed.

"I should hope so, it sounds like the most promising place to be" Azula sneered.

"She sounds like Malfoy" Ron complained. "Why do we have to hang round with them?"

"I didn't ask you to try to be my friend, get lost if you wish" Azula replied. She looked as if she would like nothing better than for the rest of them to leave.

"I don't think so, this is Harry's house, so you can get lost yourself" Ron said to her. Harry, Hermione and Ginny looked a little exasperated at that point.

"They can't leave, what if Voldemort finds out about them?" Hermione explained.

"Who cares?" Ron asked. Harry elbowed him in the ribs and gave him a look. "Fine" he said, giving in. An uneasy silence fell on the group.

"I wonder if they've finished that meeting yet" Ginny pondered, and hopped off her seat and headed for the kitchen. After a few seconds, they heard the sound of something hitting the floor.

"It sounds like they've got that charm on the door again" said Ron. Ginny wandered back in.

"Nope, still talking" she said. "It's a shame we can't listen in" she said, with a glint in her eyes reminiscent of Fred and George.

"We'll just get Fred and George to tell us later. They're part of the Order now anyway" Ron said to her.

"You know they'll want something in exchange. Probably ask you to try out their latest jokes" Hermione said. She, like Mrs Weasley, didn't approve of many of the tricks Fred and George played, even though some of them had come in useful, particularly against Professor Umbridge last year. She was grateful enough for them last year, but now there was no practical use for them.

"I suppose... we could blackmail them. I know one of their hiding places for all their latest sweets" Ginny said mischieviously. Ron gave her a worried look.

"You know, there are times when you are as scary as Hermione."

Psycho Demon-Witch: Sorry to end it like that, but I've gotten a really bad writer's block on this chapter. I can't think of a single thing to write now. Grr... now I know how so many other people feel. Anyways, please click the review button and leave a review, thank you!


	6. Chapter 6

Psycho Demon-Witch: Holy cow, I got nine reviews in one day!! That must be a new record (for this fic at least, not sure about the others and I'm too lazy to check). Thank you all so much, it's nice for someone to know people appreciate their work. I'm sitting here right now wondering what to write, yet again. I'm a bit stuck you see. I will try to continue on, but I'm not making any promises. It could be days from when I actually typed this author's note up, so I apologise in advance.

Most of this chapter will deal with the Harry Potter characters view of things, as they have only just come into the story, and I really want to get across their opinion of things before they go to school.

Chapter Six

Aang and his friends (and enemies) had gone back to Hogwarts after their visit to Grimmauld Place. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were all in Harry's and Ron's room discussing them. They all agreed that it was a shame that they had to go back after such a brief introduction, but there simply wasn't enough room for them and members of the Order of the Phoenix to stay there. In some cases of those new kids it was actually beneficial that they weren't staying. Azula wasn't a very nice girl and her friends either wouldn't (or couldn't, they hadn't decided which yet) stand up to her. Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph seemed nice enough, even if Sokka was sarcastic, and Toph a little blunt in her opinions of things. She seemed more one of the guys than a girl. The man with them, Iroh, also seemed a kind person. The boy with the scar, Zuko, they hadn't made their mind up about yet. He seemed really bitter, probably about what Azula had said about his burning and banishment, but overall didn't seem like a bad person.

"I for one am really curious about their elemental abilities. I would love to know how it works, how they actually do it" Hermione said. Ron rolled his eyes.

"I'm surprised you haven't found out about them already" he commented.

"There are no recordings anywhere of anyone having abilities such as these. They don't even need an object such as a wand to channel their abilities" Hermione retorted, defending her lack of knowledge in that area.

"Well, maybe we can learn more when we actually see them using their abilities" Harry suggested, at once calming Hermione's temper at having her intelligence insulted. It was amazing that she was still so touchy about that.

"But didn't the boy with the scar already use his? You saw the flames appear at his fists didn't you?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, but it was only for a brief second. The thing is, he didn't use anything to start the fire. It just came from nowhere. Do you think they can all do that? Make their element appear at will?" Hermione mused, muttering more to herself than anyone else.

"I don't think the others would need to. Earth, air and water are always around us, so what would be the point of being able to summon it? Fire isn't always around though... we'll ask them more when we next see them" Ginny said. Ginny and Hermione continued to speak of their theories on how the element bending worked, but they still came no closer to understanding what actually happened. Harry and Ron mostly zoned out this conversation, both much preferring to see the bending for themselves. Ginny would actually much prefer to see it for herself as well, but decided to humour Hermione. She knew how much the older girl got bored without an intellectual discussion, and she wasn't about to get one from Harry or Ron. Ginny didn't understand why everyone seemed to think Ron and Hermione would get married one day. Neither would be truly happy with it. Hermione was too independant, she would want a good career, while Ron wouldn't be happy with a wife who was working all the time.

"Are you two done yet? It's time for dinner" Ron complained. Ginny shoved him off his bed. "Oi, what was that for?" he demanded, glaring furiously at his younger sister.

"Well if you don't know I'm not going to tell you" Ginny replied cheekily. Ron glared at her again as he got to his feet and brushed himself down of any dust. Harry and Hermione did a poor job of hiding their amusment.

"Oh come on you two, it's not funny" Ron whined at them. That made them laugh harder. Ginny looked at him smugly.

"I may be the only girl in the family, but I am far from being out classed" she said with a little twirl on the spot.

"Shut up" Ron said, sulking. Ginny pinched his cheeks.

"Aww, poor Ronniekins can't take a little teasing" she said in her best baby voice. Ron sat on his bed again, folding his arms refusing to pay any attention to her. Ginny looked a little let down at her brother's lack of response, but she decided she'd gotten enough fun out of him for now.

"Has anyone found out what that meeting was about?" Harry asked, trying to sound only vaguely interested. The truth was, he wanted to know everything that was going on with Voldemort, and he was really frustrated that he wasn't allowed to attend the meetings. After all, it was him who had deeated Voldemort all those times, stopped him from coming back or just generally screwed things up for him.

"Fred and Gearge only said that Snape reported the Deatheaters messing around with some old dark magic. I don't think they understood most of what was said to be honest" Ginny replied. Harry sighed.

"I know mate, it's stupid that we're not allowed to listen to these meetings, I mean seriously, everything we've done, especially you Harry" Ron said.

"I'm as frustrated as you, but we are still at school. They must be trying to protect us... not that it works all the time" Hermione said quickly, noticing the darkening look on Harry's face.

"I think protecting us would work better if we knew what was going on" he said furiously. Hermione placed a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I know, but for now we have to deal with it. They'll tell us once..."

"Once what? Someone else dies?" Harry demanded. He was still so bitter about Sirius. The pain of losing his Godfather was still so fresh, and he was angry that he had fallen for Voldemort's trick so easily.

"I'm sure they won't let it get that far" Hermione reasoned, though she didn't sound too sure. In fact, she wasn't sure at all. Despite Sirius' death the Order had continued to keep things from Harry, from them all. Hermione understood their reasoning, they were underage and still in school. They shouldn't have anything to do with the war. But because of Voldemort, they were. Or at least Harry was and her and Ron were dragged into it because they were his friends. She let her hand drop back to her side. "I know you're angry about everything that had happened, I would be too. We all would. But you can't let your anger get control of you, it could get you killed, please Harry" she said looking into his eyes pleadingly.

"Fine, but it doesn't stop me wanting to know what's going on" Harry replied. Hermione smiled.

"I already knew that, I just don't want you getting into any trouble that can be avoided" she said.

"I wish all this trouble could have been avoided" Harry said bitterly.

"Look, this is a war, and You-Know-Who is behind it. It's his fault, so instead of aiming your anger at the Order, aim it all at him" Ginny said. "Now come on, I'm sure I can smell dinner cooking" she added. She shot a look in Ron's direction. His face instantly perked up at the mention of food. Harry laughed in spite of himself at his taller red headed friend. He supposed it was nice to be carefree about things, even if you were facing death. He was going to try to cool his temper from now on, save it all for Voldemort instead of lashing out at those who cared for him.

"Oi, stop brooding and get over here, I want to eat" Ron called to him impatiently.

"Alright, I'm coming, don't get your hair in a knot" Harry shot back. He followed the other three downstairs, the smell of the food getting stronger. Whatever it was, it smelled delicious.

Psycho Demon-Witch: I know this is a little short. I normally don't like leaving my chapters so short, but there it is. Stupid writers block. I'll be focusing on my other fics for the time being until I can get my inspiration back. Sorry for what will probably be a long wait.


	7. Chapter 7

Psycho Demon-Witch: Thank you for the reviews! They made me very happy, particularly as they all had positive things in them. Yays.

Chapter Seven

Aang and Katara were out by the lake practicing waterbending. Even though Katara was the better waterbender, Aang incorporated stances from airbending and earthbending, making up moves that Katara hadn't learned from Master Paku. She in turn learned things from Aang, as well as he learning from her. When she asked Aang how he knew those stances would work with waterbending, he said something about just doing it instinctively. She supposed he was unconciously recalling how previous Avatars had done things, things they had learned. It was a shame that he had no firebending teacher, because knowing the firebending stances would probably make him better in other elements.

She ran out onto the lake, and brought up a huge wall of water which she sent crashing into Aang's direction. Aang took an earthbending stance, and ploughed through the water as if it were a boulder. A really wet boulder. He then waved his arms around bringing up what looked like two water snakes. Katara brought up more water, sending ball after ball of water. Aang used the two snakes to fend off the balls, and once he had done that, he sent them in Katara's direction, who made a barrier of ice between her and the water. "You're going to have to do better than that Aang" she called to him from behind the ice, which she then melted and ket drop back to the water. Aang paused for a moment to consider what she was doing. She made rocking motions with her arms, and the lake started to get choppier. The waves Katara was making got bigger and bigger. Aang made a platform of ice to break the waves, to stop them getting any rougher. At the same time he started trying to force the water to go in the opposite direction, towards Katara. What resulted from this was half the water in the lake being forced together in one big wall, fighting to go in opposite directions.

Seeing the stale mate they were in, Katara and Aang let the water fall back into the lake. Katara smiled. "Well done Aang, you're getting so much better" she said happily. Aang smiled brightly at her.

"Thanks Katara" he said. "It's too bad that I can't get a firebending teacher though... especially after Iroh refused. I'm sure he would have been an amazing teacher" he said wistfully.

"He said you were destined for a particular person to teach you. I'm sure you'll find out who it is before the comet arrives" Katara said soothingly. Aang's face brightened. Katara was always there to reassure him, reassure everyone. She looked after them all, made sure their clothes were mended and clean, that they were fed and that they were healed. But, even though she meant well sometimes she was a little unrealistic, especially when they were in the middle of a war. "Come on, let's go find the other two, who knows what kind of trouble they've gotten into without us" Katara said suddenly, snapping Aang out of his thoughts.

"They're probably raiding the kitchen... and I don't even know where the kitchen is, all our meals are served in that great big hall with the magic ceiling" Aang replied. Katara laughed.

"With Sokka's nose and Toph's earthbending I'm sure they've had no trouble finding it" she said. "Maybe you can practice your earthbending now by trying to find out where they are" she suggested. Aang nodded, but told her they'd need to get closer to where ever they were first.

When they were in the castle Aang felt them nearby, just stood there staring at a wall. "Well... they're not in the kitchen" he said to Katara. He was confused as to what exactly they would be doing in the middle of a corridor, doing nothing at all. As he and Katara rounded the next corner, he saw that they were have a heated discussion in front of a picture of a bowl of fruit.

"I'm telling you, this is the way into the kitchen" Toph yelled.

"Well, it can't be because there is a great big picture of fruit in front of us. Unless you're suggesting that the fruit is the kitchen, this isn't the kitchen" Sokka yelled back.

"It's behind the picture then, I can feel it" Toph maintained.

"Your feet can't be working all that well, I mean, seriously, who hides a corridor behind a painting?" Sokka asked sarcastically.

"These kind of people obviously" Toph retorted.

"Whatever, I still say it's all in your head" Sokka said, waving anything else she was about to say off. "Oh, hi Aang, Katara" he said once he noticed them watching him and Toph.

"You know Sokka... there is a passageway behind tht painting" Aang said. Toph smirked.

"See I told you. Both of us can't be imaginging things, let alone the same thing" she said. Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Fine, you win, but how do we get to the corridor genius. You can't manipulate the walls in this place, you tried that this morning" he said. Katara frowned.

"You tried bending the walls?" she asked. Toph tried to look innocent. Needless to say it didn't work, and Katara demanded an explanation.

"Well... not the walls. I tried to bend the floor where Sokka was stood, seeing as how they're stone and all. But it didn't work. I can see using the stone, but I can't manipulate it. Must be another one of their magic defense things" she explained. Katara sighed.

"Well thank goodness for that, I don't think they'd react too kindly to you destroying their castle. And after they've been so kind to us too" she said sternly.

"I would have put it back the way it was after I tripped your brother up" Toph defended.

"Whatever, just save any messing around for outside, where you're not as likely to break anything" Katara said. Toph poked out her tongue, and mumbled something about Katara being boring. Katara's eyes narrowed.

"So waterbending practice over for the day?" Sokka asked, quickly intervening before an argument could break out. Katara and Toph's arguments were... scary.

"Yes, Aang did really well today" Katara said happily.

"Great, great. I'm going to find Iroh, I wanna talk to him" Toph said.

"What for, you know Zuko will be with him" Sokka said astonished that she would contemplate such a thing.

"Because Iroh's a nice old man and easy to talk to. Zuko's not actually that bad when I'm with them... though he does tend to stay very quiet" Toph said.

"Not that bad? He chased us all over the world just to capture Aang, how can he not be that bad?" Katara demanded angrily.

"Well, he's not like that right now, okay? Apparently he gave up his chase of the Avatar when his sister tried to arrest him and Iroh" Toph shot back, just as angrily.

"So? It doesn't mean we can trust him" Katara said.

"Whatever, I don't care what you think anyway. I'm going to talk to Iroh whether you like it or not. And if in the process I manage to become friends with Zuko, that's none of your business" Toph yelled at her before stomping off. Katara seemed to be resisting the urge to scream at the top of her lungs. She turned to Aang and Sokka.

"How can she even think of trusting him? He's evil, he's caused so much pain, and so much trouble for us all! I can't believe..." she said, going on a long rant about why Zuko was untrustworthy. Aang thought back to all their encounters with the Fire Nation Prince. The first ones, they were very hostile, every time they set eyes on each other they started fighting. Then, not long after the battle at the North Pole, things had changed. Zuko had stopped chasing him, and his sister had started. She was much more dangerous, because she has access to a lot more equipment than her brother had. He remembered the Blue Spirit as well. That had been Zuko. Although Aang supposed he was only doing it so he could capture him, he was thankful... somewhat. They had fought well together at that time, even though Zuko hadn't used any bending at all. He still hadn't told his friends about that incident. They had been too sick at the time anyway.

Sokka soon put a stop to his younger sisters hysterics by placing a firm hand on her shoulder. "Look, I agree with you, I really do. But Toph can take care of herself, she's proven that loads of times, so just trust her, okay? Besides, getting yourself worked up about Zuko is just going to be a distraction and we have better things to do" he said to her. Katara thought about this for a moment.

"You're right, I'm letting myself get angry over unimportant things. I'll apologise to Toph later on, when I see her" she said. She hoped Toph wouldn't rub it in later on.

Meanwhile, Toph was muttering about bossy, overbearing, waterbending Sugar Queens. How dare Katara try to tell her what to do! If she wanted to speak to Iroh, that was her business, nobody else's. She shoved open a door quite violently, not realising there was someone else behind it she was that distracted. "Oww" came a yell as the door smacked into someone. She heard a person's body hit the floor as he rebounded off the door. It was Zuko. Iroh was stood just behind him looking a little amused.

"Will you be more careful?" Zuko asked angrily.

"Yeah, sure, sorry" Toph said. "Sugar Queen said some stuff that made me mad, I was distracted" she added as an excuse.

"Sugar Queen?" Zuko asked as he picked himself up off the floor.

"That's a nick name for Katara" she explained. Zuko looked confused.

"Right..." he said. Iroh stepped forward.

"Hello Toph, how are you today?" he asked. Toph shrugged.

"Like I said, I'm mad with Sugar Queen. She's being her usual mothering self and trying to tell me what to do" she said heatedly.

"Why don't you tell me about it" Iroh suggested gently. He was going to try to resolve the situation. The Avatar couldn't afford to have two of his friends fighting one another.

"Well, I said I wanted to come talk to you, and Sokka said that Zuko would be with you, and when I said I didn't care, Sugar Queen got all mad and went off on this rant about how I couldn't trust him... even if I can't, I can take care of myself" Toph said, barely stopping for breath.

"So it's just a misunderstanding. I can see where she is coming from. Zuko has caused a fair amount of trouble for them in the past, but that was before they met you, so you don't know much about it. You've only met us as we became wanted by the Fire Nation ourselves" Iroh said. Before Toph could start about how it was unfair that he was taking her side he added "but I can also see where you are coming from. You can take care of yourself, as you've said before, and she should be able to trust you to do that." That made Toph somewhat happier.

"So I should try to understand where they are coming from where Zuko is concerned?" she asked.

"That would be a good idea" Iroh replied.

"Hey, I am right here you know" said an irritated Zuko. Toph turned to him.

"So what exactly did you do to annoy them so much?" she asked. Zuko made a point not to look at her, even though she couldn't see. He also stayed very, very quiet. "Well? Katara said something about you chasing them all over the place, but she never went into any specifics."

"I... tried to capture him a few times, so that I could go home" Zuko said quietly. Even Toph strained to hear him.

"Oh yeah, I remember Azula saying something about your banishment not so long ago" she said. She felt for him at that particular subject. Her parents were overprotective and wouldn't let her do anything to take care of herself, but they did that because they cared. She almost regretted leaving them without any sort of sign to know when she would come back, or not letting them know how she was. But she couldn't read or write, so the point was negated. His family, however, didn't care about him. At least most of them didn't. They had proven that by the pain they had caused him, and the blatant disregard for his wellbeing. "Do you still want to capture Aang?" she asked suspiciously. Zuko gave her a look. He contemplated his answer. Did he want to capture Aang anymore? His father had proven he didn't care about him by sending his sister to arrest him. Would there be any point in doing what his father wanted, when it seemed that he would never win his father's love. But then... why did he need to win his father's love? Shouldn't the love of a father be given regardless of talent or ability? His mind was in turmoil thinking about it.

Finally, he reached an answer. "I think there will always be a part of me that wants to capture the Avatar, the part of me that wants to go home. But.. I'm beginning to realise that maybe I'll never get to go home, maybe my father will never acknowledge me. So, I guess my answer is no. Your friend is safe from me" he said. Toph gave him a big grin. She could feel that he was being sincere in his answer.

"Well, that's good, I'd hate to have to squish you between two rocks if you tried to capture Aang again. It would upset Iroh terribly, and I don't want to hurt him, he's a friend after all" she said. That was her way of saying she cared, in a round about way...

"Yeah well... don't tell your friends that, they won't believe it" Zuko said. Toph raised an eyebrow.

"Wanna bet on that? I can tell when people are lying through the vibrations in the ground. I can sense changes in heart rate and everything" she boasted.

"That's quite a gift young Toph" Iroh said. He was bursting with pride at his nephew's answer. He was growing up at last, and he had spoken with a wisdom that was seldom seen in him. He had finally realised the truth of his family. Soon, he would tell him the truth about his mother.

Psycho Demon-Witch: sigh finally finished. It's taking a bloody long time to get to the part where they actually start school... oh well.

Merry Christmas to everyone and a happy new year... seeing as how the likelihood that I update again by then is very, very small. Pretty please leave a review


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